Global Scans · France · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: Discontent with political elites and country performance is driving the discourse and demand for action from the French public. With Presidential elections due in May 2017 it remains to be seen whether another political earthquake may happen in one of the EU's founding countries.

• [New] Arianespace Ariane 64: Amazon Leo from Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana Amazon Leo is a mega constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit that will offer broadband internet access, managed by Kuiper Systems LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon. KeepTrack
• [New] The US is on course to exceed 130% debt-to-GDP by the end of the decade, while France is projected to reach 118%, with its deficit stubbornly above 5% of GDP. Global English
• [New] On the risk of a US withdrawal from Europe, Germany tries to bolster its conventional capabilities while at the same time relying on an enhanced UK and French nuclear presence. Elcano Royal Institute
• [New] Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway and the UK have signed the Hamburg Declaration - a landmark commitment to deliver 100 GW of joint offshore wind projects across shared North Sea waters by 2050. Euronews
• [New] Alstom will supply 13 Metropolis metro sets for SRL East, each made up of four cars, running at the highest level of automation used in urban rail: GoA4 (Grade of Automation 4). / France WNC Group
• [New] France will auction 9 Y, 10 Y and 16 Y OATs paired with a 23 Y green OAT, amounting to a total issuance of €13.5bn. investing.com
• [New] In France, GravitHy is building a hydrogen-powered facility set to open in 2027. KMVU FOX 26 Medford
• [New] The next two Winter Olympics - French Alps 2030 and Utah 2034 - will have sports spread more widely, while the 2032 Summer Olympics in Brisbane is will have venues across Queensland. BBC Sport
• [New] The French Alps, the host of the 2030 games, have lost about a third of their snowfall over the past century. ABC News
• [New] The French giant will train close to 40 FlytEdge experts by 2030, who will develop new end-to-end services that integrate cloud and edge computing, which will be cybersecured by design. The Business Times
• [New] Internationally, new telework-reporting rules between France and Switzerland will require employers to track cross-border work patterns more closely, feeding automatic salary-data exchange beginning in 2027. Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting News
• [New] The French administration is preparing to ditch popular US videoconferencing tools in favour of a homegrown equivalent starting in 2027, a move it says will ensure critical data and infrastructure remains in French hands. Yahoo News UK
• [New] The bad news is that growth is expected to remain below its potential and below the eurozone average of France's European neighbours, while public debt continues to soar. ING Think
• [New] Far-right leaders in Germany, Italy and France have strongly criticized Trump's Greenland plans. CP24
• [New] The French government plans to ditch Zoom and Microsoft Teams by 2027 in favour of locally made video conferencing tool Visio. TechFinitive
• [New] The demand for space mining in France is expected to primarily influence by aerospace leadership and strategic autonomy goals. SkyQuest Technology Consulting
• [New] Losses exceeded $40 million, highlighting a new security challenge where improved digital protections are offset by physical threats, prompting some insurers to offer specialized coverage. / France CoinDesk
• [New] Europe now accounts for over 40% of global incidents, with France leading at 19 reported attacks, involving home invasions, kidnappings, and targeted personal threats. CoinDesk
• [New] Leaders from France, Canada and Finland have flocked to Beijing in recent weeks, recoiling from Trump's bid to seize Greenland and tariff threats against NATO allies. Terra Daily
• [New] Lowering sodium levels in packaged and prepared foods could lead to major improvements in heart health and prevent large numbers of heart attacks, strokes, and premature deaths in France and the United Kingdom. ScienceDaily
• [New] The Large Hadron Collider at CERN has begun to funnel the waste heat from its cooling system to a new residential and commercial area in the nearby French town of Ferney-Voltaire, with the new linkup expected to be able to heat several thousand homes at once. Tom's Hardware

Last updated: 11 February 2026